My Damned Lover: Third Year

Chapter 5

A couple weeks had already passed since the whole Buckbeak incident. 

Draco's arm was out of the cast, but apparently, his mild attitude towards Seraphina was here to stay. Sometimes, she caught him staring at her, and sometimes, he would call her name out of the blue, just to give her a smirk. 

"Welcome, class," Professor Lupin greeted. 

Lupin was Seraphina's second favorite professor, after Hagrid, of course. He was much better than the previous two defense against the dark arts professor. Gilderoy Lockhard had especially been a disaster. Seraphina was actually glad his memories had been swiped. The deceiving bastard deserved it. 

"Today, we'll be going over boggarts. Who knows what a boggart is?" "Boggarts are shape shifters. They take shape of whatever the person fears the most," Hermione piped. "When did you get here?!" Ron stared at her. Hermione had been popping in and out of class recently. Seraphina was also curious, but she wasn't the prying type.

 "Focus, Ron," Seraphina warned. She glanced at her best friend and whispered, "Everything all right?" 

"Yes, thank you," Hermione said with a smile. 

Seraphina smiled back, but her eyes were worried. Hermione seemed tired, and it was only the second week of school. Seraphina squeezed her shoulder with a nod of encouragement. Hermione knew what she was thinking and nodded back. "I'm really fine. I'll tell you if I'm not." Seraphina smiled. She would always be there for Hermione.

 "Everyone, get in line. All of you should try dealing with a boggart once in your lifetime." 

Seraphina followed her friends and ended up behind Draco. Someone shoved the row from the back, causing her to be pushed up against him. Her cheeks flushed red, and she shot a glare back at whoever was pushing everyone. Thanks to that person, she got a good whiff of Draco's cologne. He smelled slightly like mint and wood, and she didn't know if that was good or not. 

Draco glanced back at her, and she cleared her throat as she attempted to scurry away from him. "Sorry, er, someone pushed me-" She went sailing forward again, and this time, he caught her around the waist. 

That's it! Seraphina spun around with a murderous glare and pulled out her wand. 

"Seraphina, no!" Hermione forced her to face forward again. 

"I just want to talk."

 "With your wand?!" 

"My wand is very nice. To nice people. Who don't shove others. Now lemme at 'em-" 

"Seraphina!" She heard a chortle and glanced back. 

Draco cleared his throat as he pushed his laughter back down his throat. Seraphina raised an eyebrow. I don't think I've ever seen him laugh like that before.

"All right, next! Draco," Professor Lupin called. Draco's expression grew rigid, and he moved forward. He rolled his eyes and muttered, "This class is ridiculous-" 

His eyes suddenly grew wide, and his face paled. 

Seraphina noticed him grow rigid, and she could just feel tension radiating from him. What's wrong? That's when she saw the boggart striding towards him. It was currently in the shape of a giant bee, but now it was swiftly changing form. She saw a flash of blonde, and her eyes flitted to Draco, who was breaking into a cold sweat now. 

Before the boggart could completely transform, Seraphina moved around Draco and stood in front of him. The boggart froze in confusion but swiftly changed. Her eyes widened as she experienced the same horror Draco had. Her eye twitched as she stared at the sight of her dad bleeding to death before her. That realistic image that had been forever imprinted in her brain made her drop her wand. The scar on her hand buzzed with fresh pain, and the room started to close in on her. She completely forgot she was in class, and she slowly felt her energy draining from her. 

"Dad..." 

Neville appeared before her, forcing the boggart to change back to Snape, and with confidence from having defeated the creature before, Neville shouted, "Riddikulus!" 

Professor Lupin got the hint and put the boggart back in the closet. 

"Good job, Neville. Five points for Gryffindor. I think we'll call it a day. You may all leave. Seraphina, a word, please?" 

Hermione squeezed her arm and gave her a concerned look before leaving with Ron and Harry. They looked just as worried as she did. Seraphina dragged her feet towards the professor, and he looked at her with concern. "Are you all right, Seraphina?" 

"Yes, I'm fine..." 

"Are you sure? Because you really don't look okay. I could write you a note to excuse you from class. Maybe you can go see Madam Pomfrey," the professor gently suggested. 

Seraphina took a deep breath and looked into his eyes. "Thank you, professor... but this isn't something a potion can fix. But I promise I'll be fine." 

Lupin searched her eyes, and after seeing her resolve, he gave her a soft smile and a nod. 

Seraphina left the room and shut the door behind her. Her knees buckled a little, and she leaned against the wall for support. By pure reflex, she pushed her thumb into the center of her scar, and she winced. The pain was still there. It wasn't bleeding, so the pain was probably all in her head. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she remembered her father's therapeutic words, "Trauma is a fact of life. However, it doesn't have to be a life sentence. And most importantly, Seraphina, I'm here for you. That day is long gone, and I'm still alive. You won't lose me. I won't let that happen to you. No matter what, you'll never be alone." 

"Seraphina," a voice called. She opened her eyes to see Hermione gazing at her with worry. "Are you all right?" 

Seraphina broke into a soft smile and nodded. "I'm fine." 

Hermione gave her an unsure look, and Seraphina chuckled as she pushed herself off the wall and walked towards her best friend. "I'm really fine. I'll tell you if I'm not." 

"Those were my exact words to you, but fine, I'll let you off the hook for plagiarism this time. Now come on." Hermione held out an arm. 

Seraphina accepted her one-arm hug and followed her to their next class.